Brothascomics Podcast

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

The Emergence of Black Panther

So the latest rumor is that the Director of Selma, Ava
DuVernay, has been tapped to direct the Black Panther.This is history making for two reasons, 1.
she is a female director and 2. she is African American, so she fits two
minority groups which have little, if any, representation in the Marvel
Universe.There will be a lot riding on
the outcome of this movie due to this fact. My familiarity with this character
is not that clear, however, I am excited to see the outcome of this project,
because it could be ground breaking for so many reasons.

Black Panther will make his first appearance in Captain
American – Civil War and his solo film will come out on July 6, 2018.Black Panther is the first black superhero in
the Marvel Universe, so his characterization is one based on significance and
importance because of what this character could/should symbolize.Chadwick Boseman has been cast as Black
Panther.Based on his critical success
playing James Brown and Jackie Robinson, he should have no problem portraying
such a pivotal African American character of this stature.

Rumor has it that the reason Duvurney was hired this early
in production, is so that she can familiarize herself with the set of Captain
America – Civil War, which is where Black Panther will be introduced. This will
be the first time she has worked on a production of this size and scope and
being that she is a novice to superheros in general, I think this will allow
her to give this universe a fresh take on an environment that is long overdue
for some diversity.

The story of Black Panther will take us to the fictional
African nation of Wakanda where we’ll see a clash between the American
government (represented by Martin Freeman), white industrialists (represented
by Andy Serkis), and local Wakandians (represented by Boseman) over the
valuable metal Vibranium (represented by Captain America’s shield).

I must admit that I have not seen the movie Selma as of yet,
but definitely plan to check it out.However, she has received many accolades for her work with that
production as well as the movie wining an Oscar for the title song, Glory.I have high hopes for what this piece
can accomplish in the grand scheme of things.

Henceforth, this is a production that could hopefully
open many doors for Marvel Universe.